CX Institutional Buys Shares of 10,981 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,981 shares of the airline's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 13,310 shares of the airline's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the airline's stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 22.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,161 shares of the airline's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 12,853 shares of the airline's stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southwest Airlines by 5.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,101 shares of the airline's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of LUV stock traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.65. 11,317,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,159,387. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $36.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.80 and a 200 day moving average of $31.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a PE ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.69% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.36) EPS. Analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregg A. Saretsky bought 3,670 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,102.49. This trade represents a 32.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David P. Hess bought 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LUV shares. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.88.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.